Dare Babalola
Inibehe Effiong, the lawyer of embattled corps member, Raye Oguamaye has accused Veronica Ebele, the Eti-Osa Local Government Inspector of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) of deliberately failing to clear the corper in April.
In a Monday morning interview on Channels TV, monitored by NEWSTELLERS, the lawyer claimed that her client presented herself for the clearance but met stiff resistance from the LGI.
He slammed the corps over the statement it issued concerning the incident on Sunday, noting that it betrays the idea behind the establishment of the NYSC.
Effiong narrated what happened between Raye and the LGI, noting that Ebele kept asking the corps member to rejoin the queue when it got to her turn, in a bid to frustrate her.
The lawyer claimed that despite all the apologies from Raye, the LGI failed to clear her, asking her to leave the secretariat.
He said, “Nigerians who have followed this case since March when it started would be able to make reasonable deductions. The statement issued by NYSC yesterday is quite unfortunate, it betrays the very idea behind its establishment. In their statement, they claimed that Raye is being penalised in compliance with the bye-laws of the corps and that her service period has been extended for two months and her certificate of NYSC withheld because she was absent for the biometric clearance for the month of April.
“But the truth of the matter is that not only did Raye present herself in the month of April, specifically on the 7th of April, she also attended the CDS which took place on the same date. If you’re saying she didn’t undergo clearance for a particular month, one would want to know, what her reason was for missing her clearance. They haven’t said anything in that regard. And the simple truth is that what the NYSC has said publicly is completely false.
“This lady presented herself before the LGI of Eti-Osa LG, one Mrs Veronica Ebele, this is the same woman, who, not only ignored her. Initially, she told Raye to join the queue, she complied and when it got to her turn, she kept sending her to join the queue all over. Raye spent 6 hours, hoping, pleading and begging to be cleared. She refused to clear her and seized her clearance letter.
“For you to be cleared, you must have a clearance letter from your PPA, without which even the NYSC can’t clear you even if you show up. She went there with her clearance letter from her PPA, Mrs Veronica Ebele collected the clearance letter and pretended like she didn’t want to attend to her. When she came pleading, the woman started verbally attacking her. She persisted, she then told her she wasn’t going to clear her, asked her to get out that she would not attend to her.
“Raye told her that she was supposed to face the NYSC disciplinary committee if she had done anything wrong. That infuriated the woman more and sent her out. On the 11th of April, Raye went back to Mrs Veronica’s office, a few days after clearance and CDS to beg. The LGI then told her that nothing could be done because they had finished monthly clearance. What should she have done?”
